The recently released Taiwanese streaming show Women In Taipei (台北女子圖鑑) is being panned online for its stereotypical depictions of the differences between northern and southern Taiwan, with some people harassing its two screenwriters online.
Adapted from the popular Japanese TV series Tokyo Girl, which aired from 2016 to 2017, Women In Taipei debuted last month on Disney+ with an all-star cast featuring Kuei Lun-mei (桂綸鎂), Wang Po-chieh (王柏傑), Rhydian Vaughan (鳳小岳) and Chang Hsiao-chuan (張孝全).
The drama follows the life of Lin I-shan (林怡姍), played by Kuei. Lin, who was born in Tainan and moved to Taipei for work, struggles with relationships, her job and life as she strives to become the woman she aspires to be.
Photo courtesy of Disney+
The first three episodes that have been aired so far have generated heated discussions about cultural comparisons between urban and rural life, and north and south Taiwan.
Taipei is depicted as a cold and detached concrete jungle with lines such as “authentic Taipei people would not go sticking their noses into other people’s business” or “girls in Taipei are afraid of poverty, ugliness and failure.”
The differences between the north and south in the series are “untrue, hackneyed and stereotypical,” an online commentator said.
To highlight the difference between Tainan’s Yongkang District (永康), where Lin grew up, and Taipei’s Yongkang Street (永康街), where she works, the show incorrectly depicts Yongkang District as rural, showing fish farms that do not exist in the area, people said.
Some people said it was likely the screenwriters have never been to Tainan, while others said the series depicted Tainan residents as slow.
Some people have harassed the screenwriters on social media.
Award-winning screenwriter Wu Luo-ying (吳洛纓) called the behavior “cyberbullying” in a post on Facebook on Saturday, adding that people harassing the writers do not “truly understand the role and decisionmaking power of writers in the film and television industry.”
The production team and the streaming platform should face criticism from the audience as well, she said, adding that screenwriters often have to satisfy demands from executive producers to get paid.
The audience usually praises actors and directors for a hit show, but blame screenwriters for an unsatisfactory one, she said.
People familiar with the show said that some parts of the story were added by the production company, citing a scene in which Lin wears makeup for a job interview that “makes her look like she is not from Taipei” and is rejected for the job.
The negative feedback has generated a wave of memes and discussions on social media, which can be seen as a successful example of “negative marketing,” some people said.
Tu Cheng-che (杜承哲), a doctor at Cheng Ching Hospital’s thoracic surgery division, posted a meme of the show on Facebook featuring six celebrities from Tainan, including K-pop idol Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜) and supermodel Lin Chi-ling (林志玲).
“I just wanted to show that both Taipei and Tainan are good,” he wrote in the post.
Additional reporting by I Hui-tzu and CNA
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
RSS